I have a complicated relationship with "branded" characters like Pete the Cat, or Mittens the kitten, or Arnold, or the Berenstain Bears, or Ladybug Girl, Angelina or Fancy Nancy. On the one hand, I like them because they establish a character that children can "know" and be attached to, and ask for by name. "Where is Pete the Cat?" or "Do you have any new Fancy Nancy?" is a powerful question to be able to ask; to be a child and come into a library and KNOW that there's something you'll probably like. It's the kid equivalent of our adult patrons who read every single Nora Roberts but won't touch JD Robb (even though they're the same person), and the impetus behind everlasting series by Patterson or Evanovich. There's a formula and a character that is comforting and familiar and enjoyable. I get that.
But.
On the flip side, a lot of kid's writing can get VERY formulaic (to be clear, so can adult series), especially when a beloved character is the only thru-line. And while I have less than no objections to kids taking these sorts of books home and loving them forever (I actually encourage it, and fight for them to be included in our catalog) I have to say that I don't really like to have them be too much a part of storytime. I really don't want to sound classist or snobby, but part of having a storytime is to present a whole lot of types and styles of literature to kids, so they learn by repetition about the patterns of narrative and characterisation and plot-twists and tropes and all that. And to be honest, character books often don't have much of any of that, because they can ride on the success of their character. (I don't blame the authors and creators for this - they need to eat just like everyone else) Not all of them do - I find that Fancy Nancy is pretty consistently well-done, and the Biscuit books are also well plotted for their target age - but a decent number of them you can just read them and realize that the writer is coasting (or that a committee wrote it for a spec; "I need a Christmas book for a promo tie-in: have the Llama Llama family do Christmas!"). And that's not good.
So I don't have a RULE against using characters in storytime, but I do try to keep it to a minimum, or at least to be aware that I need to vet the quality of character books just as severely as I do any other title I consider.
All that said, Halloween is a fun season to look at branded characters, so that's what my partner went with this time around. I don't know that all of these would have made the cut with me, but there's nothing objectionable about them. That's why its good to have multiple storytellers: it's important to have different perspectives and approaches on display to the families and kids.
Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins
James Dean
ISBN: 9780062304186
A straightforward printing of the "Five Little Pumpkins" song/rhyme, with the visually-distinctive Pete the Cat illustrations.
Happy Halloween, Mittens
Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung
ISBN: 9780061702228 ("I Can Read" book)
Mittens the kitten "helps" with Halloween prep in this extremely gentle and light-hearted gloss of the holiday.
Herbster Readers: The Halloween Costume Contest
Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier, illustrated by Bob Ostrom
ISBN: 9781602532175
Herbie the Bear and his school pals spend most of the book brainstorming out costume ideas so they can win the school contest this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment